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Contax RX

Sander,

I can't answer your question, but having been in the Sahara 3 times and loosing one FR-I body (brother of the RTS) due to vibration during 4WD/dirt road driving, I strongly recommend that you protect all your gear heavily against vibration, which will also help against the dust/sand.
 
Hi Sander!

Took my RX on a rough trip through East-Afrika in a open Mercedes G 4WD Army-Version. The dust moved from the front side of the RX behind the viewfinder an probably elsewhere. But the dust did not harm the functionality. I had to send the RX in to Yashica to get it cleaned. I had to send my 35/135 Vario-Sonnar to Zeiss too, to get it cleaned. I guess the zoom works like an air pump. It sucks the dust in and blows it into the camera.

Wolfram
 
I just finished processing some black and white negatives I took with my RX. Mid way through the roll, I rewound the film, shot a roll of colour, put the black and white back in, and resumed shooting where I had left off. I went through he frames I had already shot by shooting with the lens cap on at f16 and shutter speed 4000. When I looked at the negatives today, I realized I made a big mistake in not turning off the date back. All of the frames I had already shot were ruined because the date was printed right smack in the middle of each frame.

This was definately my fauly but what I cannot understand is why the date was printed in the middle of the frames? Wouldn't it have just re-printed over top of the existing date?

Thanks,

Chris
Toronto
 
Hi Chris, I am sorry to read your email, but I can see why it happened. The film obtained a new reference point the second time around for the date and frames. Having the lens cap on makes no difference because it uses it's own internal light (the LEDS themselves), and you would be lucky if the film commenced at precisely the same start, so the date could be anywhere on your earlier frames.
William
 
Would it be better - another time - to shut off the dateback when inserting an already partly-exposed film? And would it be possible?

Kind regards
 
Hi Jakob,

I too sometimes change rolls in the middle of them with my Aria. I don't have the problem with the shooting data printed in between the frames as my camera (unfortunatly) has no Databack, so I cannot tell. But when reloading a half exposed roll, I fire the camera with the lens cap on 1/4000s at f/16, possibly in the dark, untill I reach the first unexposed frame of the roll, which I fire too. In this way I am sure to avoid overlapping of exposures, by loosing one frame. I believe it's better to loose an unexposed frame instead of two shoots.

Ciao Francesco
 
Hi Jakob,

I to have experienced the date inprinting when shifting films mid-roll. Just set the databack mode to blank (no numbers) and there will be no inprinting.

Martin
 
two rx questions:

i just purchased an rx along with the 35-135 zeiss zoom. mind you, it's my first day with this camera, whch i researched pretty extensively and checked out in person a few times before buying. But, compared to the viewfinder display in my nikon n-90, the rx's viewfinder is much more "grainy";the ground glass's texture is very noticeable, making the viewfinder seem dimmer along with grainy. Anybody out there have any comment on this?
Also, the on/off switch is kinda flimsy feeling, not as definitive as my g-2. It feels like it could easy switch itself on or off by brushing against my clothing.
Any thoughts or reassurances would be appreciated.
 
Greg,
The good news is your RX is normal. The bad news is, the viewfinder is somewhat dark (it gets somewhat better with fast primes, though) and yes, the on/off switch feels kind of flimsy, at least on mine.I don't think it will switch on or off by brushing against your clothing, but it feels less definitive than G2 or 167MT.
I don't know if this will be reassuring or disappointing. I hope you enjoyed the camera otherwise.

Juan
 
Greg,

The N90, being an auto-focus SLR, has a fresnel viewfinder screen: this gives a bright view, but is worthless for manual focus. The RX, like any manual-focus SLR, has a ground-glass screen which shows the state of focus, even off to the edge of the frame. I switch between an AF Canon DSLR and Contax C/Y SLRs, and graininess of the GG is simply the nature of things. You can always replace your RX screen with one from Beattie, but the tradeoff remains.

When it comes to the On/Off/AEL switch, this forum sounds like Goldilocks and the Three Bears: the Aria is too stiff, the RX is too soft, but the RTS III is just right! Sorry, excuse my weak humor.

As Juan says, fast primes address the problem of VF brightness quite effectively. I'm enjoying the P50/1.4 on the "lowly" Aria: available-light is a breeze, and focus snaps into view. I can only imagine better from the RX.
 
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